Door-stop.



No. 831,097. I PATENTED SEPT. 18, 1906. H. P. PRUIM.

DOOR STOP.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 10. 1908.

maamm HIRAM P. PRUIM, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

DOOR-STOP.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 18, 1906.

Application filed February 10, 1906. Serial No. 300,420.

To ctZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HIRAM P. PRUIM, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented new and useful Improvements in Door-Stops, of which the following is a specification.

This invention is a key-operated latch or door-stop designed to hold a door ajar temporarily, and it is particularly useful in connectionwith safety-deposit vaults.

The vaults of safety-deposit companies usually have one or more rooms designed for use by the depositors and to which the depositors can take their boxes for opening and examination. It is desirable that the doors to these rooms be locked while the depositor is in the room. It is also desirable that some means be provided for holding them unlocked, so that they can be entered without the services of the attendant or Watchman. This invention enables the watchman to set and hold the door slightly ajar, so that the depositor can enter the room, and when he enters the latch will drop or be retracted, so that the automatic lock will engage, and when the depositor leaves the room the lock will engage again until the attendant in his round re aches the room and unlocks the door and sets the same with the latch for the next depositor. It is desirable that the door be looked after each depositor leaves until the attendant examines the room, because some times the depositor will leave papers or money in the room, and if the door were left open loss might result.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

Figure 1 is a perspective view representing a door of one of the rooms referred to with the latch applied thereto and the door ajar. Fig. 2 is a cross-section of the latch. Fig. 8 is a plan with the back plate removed.

Referring specifically to the drawings, 6 indicates the door of a private room of the kind. described provided with an automatic lock 7 and also with spring-hinges or other self-closing means. The latch consists of a casing 10, provided with a tumbler 11 and a bolt 12. The bolt is advantageously made to drop by gravity, and at its inner end it is forked to form on one side a guide-arm 13, which bears against the side of the casing to guide the movement of the bolt and on the other side-the arm 14 is arranged to be struck by a key when placed in the keyhole and turned. The device is key-operated, so that no one but the attendant can set the door ajar. The latch so constructed is placed at the top of the door, so that when the bolt is lifted it will strike against the door-casing, as shown in Fig. 1, the latch being placed on the side of the door toward which it closes, so that the bolt will act as a stop to prevent the door closing entirely. IVhen the door is to be set, the bolt is lifted by means of the proper key and the door is allowed to swing the same against the casing, the pressure being sufiicient to prevent the fall of the bolt. The door is thus held ajar. As soon as it is opened by a depositor the bolt drops by its own weight, so that the door will close and be locked by the lock 7 when the depositor enters and also when he leaves. The attendant can then at any time reset the latch by unlocking the door, opening the same slightly, and lifting the latch-bolt after making the usual examination to see that the departing depositor left nothing behind.

Instead of utilizing gravity to retract the latch, a weak spring may be used, as in an ordinary latch, in which event the latch may be-applied to the side edge of the door the same as an ordinary lock.

The device will be found to save considerable work for the attendants and watchmen in safety-dep0sit vaults and will also save some delay for the depositors.

I claim- The combination with a self-closing door, of a stop therefor having a bolt which is normally retracted, and is extensible to engage the edge of the door-casing, and held in extended position In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

HIRAM I. PRUIM.

Witnesses:

SIGNA FnLTsKoc, H. G. BATCHELOR.

by the pressure of the door. 7 

